Who has converted the Garage Door to a "high lift"?

[Rain]

Follow up

Great news!

Since I only have the door and the rails up, the garage guy can put in the extra panel, the stronger motor, and the longer cable system for under $200.

Told him to order it all. Hope to have it by Friday.

Now I need to find out best affordable 4 post lift. Picked up first batch of tools, air compressor, lines and hoses, connector kit, and a few other items at Harbor Freight.
Also have to figure out what to put on the floor. 20x21 garage.

Thanks for the help guys
Rain
Weekend Engine Detail - no water involved!

 

[Whiplash]

High Lift Door Conversion

I'm trying to get my doors converted to high lift as well. It seems to me the garage door industry has a few quirks.

My garage has 12 ft ceilings and 8 foot doors. Of course to save a few bucks the builder had the doors turn horizontal at the 8 ft mark. I want to put a lift in and need to raise the tracks and opener to make clearance.

I basically see two real options:

1) Add one or two extra panels on top, extend track and opener closer to ceiling.
2) Raise Track and install a jackshaft opener like the i-drive or the Liftmaster 3800

The door company wants me to go with option 2. It's very slick and will cost some bucks.

I'd rather do option 1 and think I could do it myself but he told me it would be just as expensive.

One issue I have is the doors currently have the "expansion" springs instead of the "torsion" springs. I think this would make the job easier. Just add the panels, weigh the garage door, get new expansion springs for the proper weight and install longer cables. The door guys say this won't work but I don't see why not.

My questions are:

Has anyone done the high lift with dummy panel and expansion springs (the kind that pull along the track vs the twisted spring above the door)?

What track pieces would I need if I wanted to raise the door 3 ft?

Where did you get the dummy panels?

If this won't work why not?

I really like the option 2 with the liftmaster but the motors on the doors are brand new and I don't need overkill.

Thanks in advance.

Whiplash

 

[G Winter]

Something I don't understand is why you need a dummy panel.I would just extend the vertical rails as far as you need. Replace the rollers in the top panel with a set like the second from the top.Make a metal frame with three verticals, one on each end and one in the middle the same length as the extra length on the rails. Attach this with hinges at the three verticals. Install the rollers from the top of the door to the top of the frame as if it was the top of the door.Install longer cables , raise door opener, and I think you should be good to go. You may have to have slightly stronger springs for the extra weight of the frame but I think just pulling them a little tighter should do it.


Glenn

 

[Whiplash]

Something I don't understand is why you need a dummy panel.I would just extend the vertical rails as far as you need. Replace the rollers in the top panel with a set like the second from the top.Make a metal frame with three verticals, one on each end and one in the middle the same length as the extra length on the rails. Attach this with hinges at the three verticals. Install the rollers from the top of the door to the top of the frame as if it was the top of the door.Install longer cables , raise door opener, and I think you should be good to go. You may have to have slightly stronger springs for the extra weight of the frame but I think just pulling them a little tighter should do it.


Glenn

Glenn,

I like the idea. Same concept as the dummy panel but with a metal frame. I thought about going that way too but kinda got stuck on how I would make the frame. I figured a dummy panel would be easier than trying to make a frame but the frame would likely weight less. What would you make the frame out of?

Whiplash

 

[G Winter]

What you use depends a little what you have for tools.If you can get a sheet metal or a manufacturing place to break some channels for the top and bottom and ends. Use light square tubing for center where the opener pushes it shut.If you have a welder or use of one weld it together. As far as the metal to use, 20 gauge might do it. the sides for the most part only have to pull the door up and hold things straight. doing it this way you can adjust how much you extend it. Maybe if you go to a garage door company they may have an old sheet metal panel you could get for almost nothing. If it is dented or whatever it is now big deal nobody sees it.

Glenn

 

[JohnZ]

I'm trying to get my doors converted to high lift as well. It seems to me the garage door industry has a few quirks.

My garage has 12 ft ceilings and 8 foot doors. Of course to save a few bucks the builder had the doors turn horizontal at the 8 ft mark. I want to put a lift in and need to raise the tracks and opener to make clearance.

I basically see two real options:

1) Add one or two extra panels on top, extend track and opener closer to ceiling.
2) Raise Track and install a jackshaft opener like the i-drive or the Liftmaster 3800

The door company wants me to go with option 2. It's very slick and will cost some bucks.

I have the same arrangement (12' ceiling and 18' x 8' sectional doors), except I have torsion springs (the expansion springs are prohibited by the county building codes here for new construction for safety reasons).

My garage door guy converted the door in front of my lift bay by adding a dummy top panel (not visible from outside), raising the horizontal tracks to 8" from the ceiling, and raising the operator track to 2" from the ceiling. Cost me about $400 five years ago.

The dummy panel is necessary when using the standard opener in order to cure the geometry problem of translating horizontal operator pull to vertical movement of the door during the initial part of the door travel; only needed to lengthen the link from the operator to the door. The added dummy panel (including a stiffener channel) is a lot cheaper than installing a side-mounted jackshaft opener.

Works great, no problems - now I can open the door all the way with a car at full working height on the lift.

 

[SebringBill]

Rain,

I went the commercial rollup door way:

No overhead clearance problems at all.

 

[grumpyvette]

having the garage door stack & store against the WALL vs in the hoizontal roller tracks near the ceiling was part of my garage design requirements, the ceiling at 16 ft, I didn,t want the garage door taking up head space or blocking the fans or lights when open,

its hard too see here (picture is a couple years old,was taken the first day we had electric and we were just storing stuff randiomly out of the rain at that point)

but the garage doors store along the wall and the tracks are parrallel to the 16 ft ceiling , the door is fully open before the door ever starts into the horizontal tracks, door opening is 16 ft wide and 8 ft tall so theres 8 ft of wall above the door before the door even needs to start into the horizontal tracks, needless to say its rarely every opened more than the first 8 ft the door opening requires

 

[Whiplash]

I have the same arrangement (12' ceiling and 18' x 8' sectional doors), except I have torsion springs (the expansion springs are prohibited by the county building codes here for new construction for safety reasons).

My garage door guy converted the door in front of my lift bay by adding a dummy top panel (not visible from outside), raising the horizontal tracks to 8" from the ceiling, and raising the operator track to 2" from the ceiling. Cost me about $400 five years ago.

The dummy panel is necessary when using the standard opener in order to cure the geometry problem of translating horizontal operator pull to vertical movement of the door during the initial part of the door travel; only needed to lengthen the link from the operator to the door. The added dummy panel (including a stiffener channel) is a lot cheaper than installing a side-mounted jackshaft opener.

Works great, no problems - now I can open the door all the way with a car at full working height on the lift.

Your solution is exactly what I'm trying to get done but the garage door companies are telling me they need to replace the door for over $1K. It's a brand new house. All I want is a dummy panel or two and the extra verticle section.

I don't know why this is so hard. It's not rocket science. Your solution looks great. I'll keep trying till I can find where to buy the panel or find a garage door company that will do what I want.

If you know where I can buy the panel without the BS from the garage door companies please let me know.

Thanks,

Whiplash

 

[JohnZ]

If you know where I can buy the panel without the BS from the garage door companies please let me know.

Thanks,

Whiplash

My garage door guy (who installed the doors when the house was built) got the dummy panel from the same company that made the garage door; two guys did the whole job in about 4 hours, cost me about $400.00.

 

[Whiplash]

My garage door guy (who installed the doors when the house was built) got the dummy panel from the same company that made the garage door; two guys did the whole job in about 4 hours, cost me about $400.00.

Guess I gotta find the right garage door guys. The ones I've talked to around here have a real racket going.

Thanks